Paper Panic!
by Post It Lover
Summary: Kyoko has a paper to submit but she's stuck on the topic. Can Ren give her a hand and maybe teach her other things along the way?


Paper Panic:

Disclaimer: I honestly do not own Skip Beat.

Tsuruga Ren cruised along the halls of LME in a bright mood. His schedule for today allowed him to pay a visit to his favorite Love Me Section member.

"_Make sure to recharge today okay Ren! The next month is very busy for you so the only time you'll get to see her is during filming for "Dark Moon". Use your time wisely."_ was what Yashiro-san told him.

As he rounded up the corner to reach her room, he saw her small form glued to the floor with all the gloom in hell looming above her.

"Mogami-san! What's wrong? Did something bad happen?" Ren asked as he rushed to her side immediately looking for any sign of physical distress.

"Tsuruga-saaaaaaaaaan…please help me or I'll fail acting school this semester!"

Ren stared at her for a moment and let out a sigh of relief and exasperation. He was glad there was nothing physically wrong with her but at the same time he should have known that this girl had the tendency to over-react with regards to even the simplest things.

"Well then, if you can stand up, let's continue this conversation inside the Love Me Room alright?" he said as he gently helped her get back up on her feet and lead her inside the room.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Now start from the beginning." Ren continued as he pulled a chair and sat himself opposite Kyoko. "Why do say that you're going to fail acting school?"

Kyoko blushed brightly, embarrassed at the ruckus she made. _'I got Tsuruga-san involved in my problems again. I'm the worst junior ever!' _Feeling more ashamed than before Kyoko lowered her head. "Tsuruga-san, th-there's really no need for you to listen to me. I mean, it's just a silly project. I can handle it. I just panicked and you should use this time to rest and not bother with little things like me Tsuruga-san."

When she raised her eyes to meet his, she was shocked to see Ren's trademark "Gentleman Smile" shining full blast on her. "How nice of you Mogami-san. But you know, here I am offering my help and you just reject it? I even rushed to help you when I saw you sprawled on the floor looking like the earth was about to give way underneath you and I also helped you get back up on your feet and I also—"

"Okay Tsuruga-san! I get it! You win so please turn off your billion watt smile! It's making it harder for me to talk." she said as she shivered from the effects of Ren's smile. "Well, you see, my problem is that we have to write an essay for our final at school. I've written a lot of essays before and I usually do fine, with any topic or theme, but the topic for the final essay is lo-"

"It's about love isn't it?"

Kyoko could only stare at Ren with awe. Sometimes it amazes her how easily the man in front of her could read her like an open book. She knew Tsuruga Ren was an acting genius. But at the rate that he's going with being able to finish her sentences for her and know what the topic for her essay is, he might as well be a psychologist.

"Yes, Tsuruga-san." she replied as she snapped out of her thoughts. "It is about love. For the project, we are asked to give a response to the statement that 'Love makes all things good.'"

"Well then, tell me which part of love is difficult to write about."

"Love can't make all things good Tsuruga-san! Love can easily blind people into thinking that they could also be loved in return, but in the end if it's just one-sided love then, it's just painful… excruciatingly painful for the blinded person when they realize that they loved in vain." Kyoko finished quietly and looked down at her feet.

"You've got your thesis already then Mogami-san." Ren replied. "Your instruction was to give a response. It never actually said anything about supporting the idea. Just give a response."

"But Tsuruga-san, all I can say about the topic are negative things. Bad things related to love. I don't think I'll pass the class with that."

Ren regarded her thoughtfully and smiled. _'At least now she's quite conscious of the fact that it's not normal to always associate love with negative things.'_ Seeing as she was expecting a response from him he adjusted his seat and continued. "Well, you're right Mogami-san it's not normal to associate love with negative things just because you had a bad experience but it's perfectly acceptable to say that there is some pain associated with love. It's stupid not acknowledge that there is a certain amount of pain involved when you love someone."

"You seem to know a whole lot about the pains of love, Tsuruga-san. Do you have someone you love right now?" Although she knew then answer, she couldn't help but see if her sempai would let her in on his secret.

"Yes." He replied firmly as he looked her straight in the eye.

"Then, what's painful about it?"

Not taking his eyes off of her he said, "It hurts not to be able to tell her despite the overwhelming feelings in my heart."

Kyoko looked incredulously at Ren. "What? Why can't you tell her? I mean, you're Tsuruga Ren. THE Tsuruga Ren. Any normal girl would probably throw themselves at you right away. Plus I've told you this before, but you look like playboy. So you can easily win her heart."

A vein popped on Ren's forehead as he heard himself being called a playboy. He chose to ignore it and answered her question.

"I don't think she's ready yet. Simple as that. And she's not just any normal girl." answered Ren as he smiled at her.

"You see, when I first met her, she was like a princess in those fairy tales that you like. She loved everything and everyone. She loved, loved and gave away all her love leaving none for herself. Then an evil man made her believe he loved her but broke her heart in the end after he used her. Because of that, she is deeply wounded right now and afraid to love. I don't want to rush her just because of my selfish feelings. But at the same time, I want her to forget about the other person and be able to see me and move on with me. I can feel her keeping everyone, including me, at arm's length. If she could just call me by my name and let me call her by hers then maybe that would ease the pain a little bit."

"She sounds pretty wounded just like me, huh?" Kyoko replied quietly. Both of them stayed silent for a while, one reflecting in her own circumstance while her companion looked longingly at her, willing her to understand his feelings.

"Ah! I know!" Kyoko said as she turned to Ren, easily breaking the heavy silence. "If you could introduce me to her then maybe I can help you by having her open up to me, Tsuruga-san!" Quickly realizing what she just said, Kyoko let out a gasp.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I don't want to pry or meddle in your business Tsuruga-san. I was just think maybe I could help you or something. But who am I to offer my sempai help and—"

"You can start helping me by calling me Ren instead of Tsuruga-san" Ren said with an amused smile.

"Huh?"

"Ren. Ren instead of Tsuruga-san."

"Ermm…I really don't know." she replied with uncertainty. "How exactly is that going to help your situation Tsuruga-sa—"

Before she could even finish her sentence, she was met by large puppy eyes. Large, cute, heart-breaking puppy eyes. Ren pouted and stared at her like a puppy until she couldn't take it anymore and accepted his request.

"Alright. I'll _try_ Ren-san. How about that? Calling you just Ren still feels awkward for me. But Ren-san doesn't seem so bad. Actually it feels nice saying Ren-san. It's like I've grown closer to you." She smiled brightly at her sempai. "So, how else can I help Ren-san?"

He would have insisted on her dropping the '-san' but seeing as she was comfortable with it and even felt that they grew closer, he just let it slide. _For now…_

"Fair enough. You helped me get closer to her already. Thank you, _Kyoko-chan_."

"…"

Seeing as their conversation already served its purpose and the girl in front of him was slowly but surely processing what the whole conversation implied, Ren stood up and made his way towards the door and opened it. "I told you right? I'd be very happy if she could at least call me by my name." He got out of the room and before he closed it he gave her one last smile. "Hope you found something nice to put in that project of yours." And with that, he left leaving his beloved little kouhai in a mélange of thoughts.

_I spent my time well Yashiro-san. Very Well..._

A/N: Please Review=)


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